Commercial Recoveries

Our dedicated commercial recoveries unit handles commercial debt recovery and dispute resolution. We provide proactive advice on recovery options available and the commercial considerations for such action on behalf of a wide range of sectors across the UK.

We believe that the key to success is:

  • Working in partnership with you to provide specific solutions to your problems
  • Continuously reviewing and improving our service to you
  • Establishing a long-term relationship, which allows us to understand your requirements and for you to have complete trust in our personnel and expertise
  • Working closely with you to tailor a service that integrates with your systems and operational methods
  • Adopting a compliant and proactive approach to debt recovery

County Court Business Centre

We are members of the County Court Business Centre ensuring our clients receive the benefit of a fast turnaround of court proceedings and reduced court fees.

On-line access and Management Information

We provide all clients with access to the Wilkin Chapman “Client on-line” facility enabling you to access all your accounts, track progress, review all transactions. We work with clients to develop bespoke management information that is relevant to their needs.

Dedicated Debt Recovery Lawyer

Each client has a dedicated case manager and larger clients have a team devoted to them. This builds our understanding of your business and ensures we work in partnership to achieve the best results possible.

Enforcement

We utilise the full range of enforcement activity and insolvency proceedings to recover your debt and use our experience to guide you on the most suitable methods of recovery.

Commercial Recoveries

As one of the leading debt recovery providers in the UK, our experienced team offer a complete service to assist you in the recovery of your debts. Our focus is clear: recovery of your money.

The team who may assist you with your matter consists of: Angela Donovan, Alex Schofield, Jenna Emsley-Fairbass and Kimberley Miller, all of whom are supervised by Partner, Elizabeth Gilliatt.

We have outlined in the following tabs the costs and fees that you would have to pay if you instruct us. These apply where the claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice, which is not disputed and does not exceed £100,000.

Should you wish to instruct us to recover bulk debts, please contact us to discuss our fees.

Stage 1. Letter before action

This is a letter which is sent to the debtor demanding payment of the outstanding debt together with Late Payment interest and compensation which warns them that should they fail to make payment court proceedings will be issued against them.

If this results in payment of the debt you will pay:

£25, or the value of the Late Payment Compensation where this is recovered.

Late Payment Compensation is banded as follows:

Debt amountCompensation
£0-999 £40
£1,000 - 9,999 £70
£10,000+ £100
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FAQs

What work is included within this fixed fee?

  • Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation;
  • Sending a letter before action and if payment is received, sending this to you;
  • If payment is not received, advising you regarding the issue of proceedings.

What work is not included within this fixed fee?

Advice and dispute resolution work is not included within this fee. This work is likely to arise if the debt becomes disputed, in which case we will discuss any further work required and provide you a revised estimate in terms of our fees which could be on a fixed fee basis or an hourly rate if more extensive work is required.

Costs payable by you where the debt is not recovered at this stage and you decide not to proceed

No fee is payable to us.

How long will it take?

If the debtor is an individual they have 30 days from the date of the letter before action to pay the debt. If the debtor is a company they have 7 days from the date of the letter before action to pay the debt.

Stage 2 – Issue of Court proceedings and Entering Judgment

If the letter before action fails to elicit payment from the debtor, the next step would be the issue of court proceedings.

Where payment is recovered before judgment is entered against the debtor, our fees are calculated in accordance with the table below.

Table A

Debt amount

Fixed solicitor's costs*

Court fee

Total charge

Debtor pays

You pay

£0-300 £50 £25 £75 All 5% of debt **
£301-500 £50 £35 £85 All 5% of debt **
£501-1,000 £70 £60 £130 All 5% of debt **
£1,000-1,500 £80 £70 £150 All 5% of debt **
£1,500-3,000 £100 £105 £205 All 5% of debt **
£3,000-5,000 £100 £185 £285 All 5% of debt **
£5,000-10,000 £100 £410 £510 All 5% of debt **
£10,000-100,000 £100 4.5% of value of claim Variable All 5% of debt **

All charges, other than Court fees, are subject to VAT at 20%

* Fixed solicitor's costs permitted by the Court on commencement of the claim.

** In addition to payment of 5% of the debt value, you will also pay to us 50% of any Late Payment compensation that is recovered. You will retain the remaining 50% and any Late Payment interest or statutory interest recovered.

Recovery after judgment

Where payment is recovered after judgment is entered against the debtor, we will add to the above figures the following sums:

Table B

Debt amount

Fixed solicitor's costs*

Total charge

Debtor pays

You pay

£0-4,999 £22 £22 All 5% of debt **
£5,000+ £30 £30 All 5% of debt **

All charges, other than Court fees, are subject to VAT at 20%

* Fixed solicitor's costs permitted by the Court on commencement of the claim.

** In addition to payment of 5% of the debt value, you will also pay to us 50% of any Late Payment compensation that is recovered. You will retain the remaining 50% and any Late Payment interest or statutory interest recovered.

Late Payment Compensation

Late Payment Compensation is banded as follows:

Debt amountCompensation
£0-999 £40
£1,000 - 9,999 £70
£10,000 £100
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FAQs

What work is not included within this fixed fee?

Advice and dispute resolution work is not included within this fee. This work is likely to arise if the debt becomes defended, in which case we will discuss any further work required and provide you a revised estimate in terms of our fees which could be on a fixed fee basis or an hourly rate if more extensive work is required.

Additionally, this fee does not include any enforcement action which is required to recover the debt.

Costs payable by you where the debt is not recovered at this stage and you decide not to proceed

Where a debt is not recovered, you pay the amount shown in the “Total charge” column. If judgment has been entered, this will be the total charge itemised in Table A + Table B.

How long will it take?

Typically it takes a period of 1 month from the date of the issue of court proceedings to entering judgment in default (i.e. where a Defence is not filed).

Stage 3. Enforcement costs

If following the entering of judgment the debtor fails to make payment, enforcement action can then be taken. There are several types of enforcement action and we will advise you of the most appropriate type for your particular matter.

The most common method of enforcement is a Warrant/Writ of Control by the County Court bailiff or the High Court Enforcement officer (HCEO) and the following are the relevant charges for this type of enforcement. The bailiff/HCEO recover their fees from the debtor in addition to the judgment debt and the sums detailed below.

Table C

Judgement amountFixed Solicitor’s costs *

Court fees

Total charge Debtor paysYou pay **

£0-600

£2.25

£75.00

£77.25

All

5% of debt

£600+

£51.75

£66.00

£117.75

All

5% of debt

* These are fixed costs permitted by the court.

** All charges, other than court fees, are subject to VAT at 20%. In addition to payment of 5% of the debt value, you will also pay to us 50% of any Late Payment compensation that is recovered. You will retain the remaining 50% and any Late Payment interest or statutory interest recovered.

Late Payment Compensation is banded as follows:

Debt amountCompensation
£0-999 £40
£1,000 - 9,999 £70
£10,000+ £100
Back to top

FAQs

What work is covered within the fixed fee?

  • Taking your instructions and advising you throughout;
  • Instructing the bailiff or High Court Enforcement officer and corresponding with them throughout;
  • If payment is received, sending this to you;

What work is not covered within the fixed fee?

Any work that is required should the enforcement process be disputed, e.g. an application to set aside the judgment or to stay (stop) the enforcement action.

Costs payable by you where the debt is not recovered at this stage and you decide not to proceed

Where a debt is not recovered, you pay the amount shown in the “Total charge” columns detailed in Tables A and B (See the Stage 2 tab) plus Table C above, together with the HCEO’s abortive charges if there are any (usually £75 plus VAT).

For example, if the debt is £4000, you will pay £285.00 (Table A) + £22.00 (Table B) + £117.75 (Table C) = £424.75 plus VAT of £84.95 and the HCEO abortive charges, if applicable. In this example the maximum you would pay is £599.70.

How long will it take?

The enforcement process normally takes between 4 and 6 weeks.

Meet our experts

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Chris Grocock
Chris Grocock
Partner and Head of Recoveries
Tel: 01472 262631
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Ellie Malone
Ellie Malone
Paralegal - Commercial Debt Team
Tel: 01472 262636
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Jenna Emsley-Fairbrass
Jenna Emsley-Fairbrass
Senior Paralegal - Team Leader
Tel: 01472 253939
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Kelsey Jerrard
Kelsey Jerrard
Paralegal - Commercial Debt Team
Tel: 01472 262771
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Kimberley Gooderham
Kimberley Gooderham
Paralegal - Commercial Debt Team
Tel: 01472 262640
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Nancy Laird
Nancy Laird
Trainee Legal Executive - Commercial Recoveries
Tel: 01472 253911
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Corporate and Commercial

Our team of specialist corporate and commercial solicitors work closely with you to achieve your commercial goals. We take a practical approach to business and understanding your business needs. Our expert corporate lawyers not only know the law, but also draw upon their experience to provide you with effective solutions to any given situation. Our team is flexible and has the resources to manage all sizes of transactions and matters for small to medium sized (SME) organisations, as well as large multi-national companies.

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Disputes

Disputes or litigation are an aspect of business that sometimes cannot be avoided. Our expert solicitors deal with all aspects of commercial disputes from contractual, shareholder and partnership disputes, to professional negligence and commercial property issues.

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Employment Law & HR Advice

We advise businesses of all sizes, including national businesses who are based in our immediate area and beyond. Our team of HR & employment law specialist solicitors have over 50 years' experience in dealing with employment matters and are committed to providing cost effective advice.

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Insolvency

In appropriate cases, the threat of insolvency proceedings is a very effective way of recovering unpaid debts. However, if the threat is implemented and does not result in payment, creditors often wait a long time to receive only a modest proportion of what is owed to them.

Our insolvency team is committed to being a leading provider of cost-effective recovery solutions and - uniquely amongst law firms - we provide a comprehensive range of insolvency services which are focused on maximising and accelerating returns to creditors.

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Recoveries

Our recoveries department is widely recognised as a leader in the field of debt recovery. We work with a wide range of clients in both national and international recovery, advising on pre-legal and legal recovery, insolvency and commercial litigation. We are also one of the few national law firms who has an authorised insolvency practitioner, Chris Garwood.

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What our customers say:

"Chris has an in-depth understanding of council debt collection and working within public sector constraints.."

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